A tornado ripped through a southwestern Dutch city on Monday, killing at least one person and injuring seven others in the first fatal twister to hit the country for three decades.

The whirlwind left a trail of destruction through the seaside city of Zierikzee, blowing the roofs off homes and toppling trees onto cars, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

Images on social media showed bits of debris rotating in the air in the fierce winds and a huge funnel descending from stormy clouds as the tornado hit the city in the scenic province of Zeeland.

"The damage is considerable in several streets in Zierikzee. In addition to flying roof tiles and fallen trees, roofs have been blown off four houses," the Zeeland safety authority said.

It said there had been a "huge deployment" of emergency services.

"In total, in addition to the fatality, seven people were injured as a result of the tornado. Of these, one person was taken to hospital by ambulance, the others were treated on site."

Local newspaper, the Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant, said the dead person was a tourist who was hit on the head by a roof tile at the city's harbour area.

"The whirlwind kept getting bigger. It reminded me of American films, with those storm chasers," resident Maurice van den Nouweland was quoted as saying by the Dutch national news agency ANP.

"It felt like the room was being vacuumed," added another resident, Douwe Ouwerkerk, who was at home when the tornado struck.

He said he saw "roof tiles, a garden pool, something that looked like a tent" lifted off the ground.